EMK’s Film Notes: Anticipation Breakdown

Anticipation. Anticipation. Anticipation. Road Movie. Road Movie series. Here we go. Maybe it will be good. Maybe it won’t. It all begins.

I’ve been doing a mixture of fundraising preparation and pre-production for the past few months and… have been surviving. Now its all comes down to the next thirty days to see if this project will happen or if all of this work will be in vain.

Oh, Fear, My Old Friend, Welcome, Have A Seat.

We have a great campaign ready… More importantly, the film is coming together for the whole team. It’s one thing for me to see the film, but the real magic starts happening when the cinematographer, actors, and all involved understand the vision. Especially when people are (almost) literally getting paid peanuts. At the end of the day, they are helping me give birth to a piece of art that I care about the most. Sure actors act because they love to act and cinematographers are always determined to make great art, but none of it is going to work if they don’t see what the director sees.

The vision starts taking over everything… When you’re eating breakfast (I eat a lot of poached eggs) you start seeing shots in your food. The whole film starts playing in your mind over and over again and the closer it gets to the shooting schedule, the stronger the visions become, and the more you know it will hurt if it doesn’t happen.

About a year ago, I had a project slip out of my hands before it was realized, but this time it’s not going to happen. AND NOW that I’ve sold the vision (or at least I’ve convinced myself I have) to the cast and crew, I need to sell it to the masses… or the 300-500 people that WILL BE donating. But maybe nobody will donate. Maybe they’ll laugh and I’ll go into a corner and cry myself to sleep. BUT THAT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN! I’m going to fight through this.

So for all of you out there: Look out. You are going to be hearing a lot about a new film called ABOUT STRANGERS. A film about three drifters getting lost trying to find out of and then back to LA. Get ready. It’s coming. And I’m coming with it. And I’m probably going to drive you nuts convincing you to help me make it.

SO. HELP. ME. MAKE. IT.(Editor’s note: Help in the form of solid moral support, sharing on social media & good juju vibes in general are greatly appreciated, alongside whatever monetary value you can assist with!)